Under the Pole there lies a bare rock in the midst of the Sea

In the 16^th century, the cartographer and geographer Gerhard Mercator assumed that the magnetic pole was a rock in the middle of the sea from which the magnetic field emanated. Today we know that it is driven by the liquid outer core of the Earth. Determining its position is the basis of our navigation (from the simplest compass to Google Maps). However, as the magnetic North Pole has been racing towards Siberia for some time for unexplained reasons, the measurements of its position must be constantly updated so that our navigation devices can still provide meaningful information.

The sculpture Under the Pole there lies a bare rock in the midst of the Sea translates the rapid movement of the magnetic North Pole into a black ellipse that swings through space like a drawing. The length of the ellipse is 6.28m, reproducing the speed of the pole’s movement per hour. It thus refers to a natural phenomenon that forms the basis of one of our most important technologies and questions the interdependence of the human being, technology and nature.